After Proteas pacer, Kagiso Rabada was banned for one Test for using abusive language (caught by the stump mic), veteran Aussie pacer Peter Siddle has come out and voiced his support for the stump mic to be turned down and such incidents be avoided.

Speaking to The Unplayable podcast, Siddle said, “I’m a big believer that the stump mics should be turned down,” he told cricket.com.au. “I believe they’re up too much, I don’t think you need to be hearing the players talking to each other, I don’t think that’s necessary. “The umpires are mic’d up, why do we need to hear the players talk? That’s just asking for trouble.”

“It’s always the case that the TV company comes out afterwards and says ‘sorry, just a little mix-up and it shouldn’t have been heard’,” Siddle said and added, “A similar thing happened to Michael Clarke in the Ashes in 2013-14 having a go at Jimmy Anderson. At the end of the day the TV company comes out and just apologises. “It has to be stopped … there’s a bit of emotion on the field, it’s just a bit of fun, it’s a tough contest out there and sometimes the emotion comes out. “Sometimes it doesn’t sound great but it’s not meant (to cause) any harm to the person at the other end, it’s just a bit of anger or frustration. “We’re going to miss one of the most exciting players in Test cricket at the moment, he’s going to miss a Test because of someone else’s mishap.”

Meanwhile, former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie also spoke about the incident and said the demerit points system should get a relook. “On the face of it, it seems harsh but it wasn’t just that one incident, it was a cumulation of incidents that added up and ended being a ban,” Gillespie said. “I get that but I don’t have to necessarily agree with it.